Time Travel
According to Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, time is an illusion in a way that it can speed up or slow down depending on how fast you move relative to something else. According to his theory, one would age much slower moving at the speed of light through space and thus making time the fourth dimension in addition to length, width, and height-the coordinates of space. Time can also be adjusted by gravity, according to a second Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Gravity increases speed in space relative to earth, a situation proved by the GPS satellite technology where clocks gain 38 microseconds a day, calling for calibrations by engineers to adjust the difference (Howell).
Scientists often disagree with the concept of time travel. Einstein’s theories make time travel an extremely difficult scenario to accomplish.His equations provide for travelling through wormholes although they would only be suitable for small particles. Stephen Hawking describes a wormhole as a theoretical tunnel that links two places in space-time where space and time are pulled into the tunnel by negative energy emerging in another universe. However, these real-life tunnels are way too small for human beings to pass through but some scientists deem it possible to capture a wormhole and enlarge it, big enough to accommodate human beings or even spaceships. Despite this belief, wormholes cannot last long enough to be used used as time machine as natural radiation would enter as soon as they expand making them end up in a loop and eventually destroying them (Hawking). Other scientists have suggested alternative forms of moving between different points in time including through the black hole, cosmic strings and an infinite cylinder (Howell).
Travelling into the past, has however, been termed severally as an impossible mission, part in part due to paradoxes such as the grandfather paradox and hawking’s mad scientist paradox. The grandfather paradox involves a time traveller who goes back and kills his parents or grandparents therefore interfering with their relationship and thus resulting into the time traveller not being born (Gott 11). The concept is the same for the mad scientist paradox where a scientist builds a wormhole, a time tunnel that stretches one minute into the past thus seeing himself as he was a minute ago. He uses the wormhole to shoot his earlier self, thereby making him dead but then again it cannot be figured who pulled the trigger (Hawking). All other possible theories are fictional and include a one-way travel to the future, moving through higher dimensions, travelling through the space-time vortex and the instantaneous time jumping (Howell). Despite all the impossibilities of travelling into the past, I find going back in time extremely interesting not to particularly change history but rather to take part in shaping it. I often wonder how life must have been for the young adults who strung into a maelstrom of meetings and marches during the civil rights movement of the 1960s to advocate for social justice.
The civil rights movement is a period of struggle for freedom, justice and equality for African Americans particularly in the south where segregation and state supported racial disparities prevented blacks from realizing first-class citizenship. This period is believed to have taken place between 1954-1968, but represents a small portion of centuries long struggle for freedom by people of African decent. The period, however, was instrumental in the fight for equality as it led to lasting achievements due to five main conditions (Ezra xii). These conditions include:- Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
- Support from non-black allies,particularly whites who donated money, skills and in some instances their own lives to aid the cause.
- Unprecedented grass-roots activism galvanized by thousands of first-time protesters of all ages and backgrounds, thereby providing momentum and energy to the moment.
- Significant backing from the Supreme Court, Congress and White house via landmark judicial decisions, passing of civil rights laws and mobilization of federal resources.
- Sympathetic mass media that portrayed positive images of the civil right movement and positioned it as the nation’s moral conscience.
- International support and pressure for example through the adoption of the Universal Human Rights declaration by the United Nations and the cold war with the soviet union- a war designated to win the loyalty and trust of third world nations.
Era Chosen: King years ( 1954-1968)
Having heard so much about the march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of august 28th 1963, I pitched the idea of travelling back in time to experience the famous day with my friends Lloyd and Carlos. We were always so intrigued that the events and happenings of this day led to a decree of justice by activists in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, to Soweto’s outcry against an Apartheid South Africa (New York Times). The march led to a number of positive effects in the United States. It created a momentum for the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing At of 1968. it was a turning point against racism and bigotry and inspired James Harris to step up and become the first black quarterback of the National Football League (Weber). Knowing how invested we were on the history of our country, we all hoped onto the instantaneous time jumping machine concept (Howell) and headed 57 years back in time.
Our day starts hours past midnight of August 28th in New York city, sited in a bus among other protesters. Soon it was morning in the capital. A multitude of people from all walks of life converged at the bus stations and in streets and soon headed towards the national mall. The day was characterized by fear and tension but that could not overpower the hope that the people had. On the bus people occasionally sung ‘Oh freedom’ and ‘We shall overcome’ but for the most part the bus was quiet. People were secretly praying that no violence would occur on the big day. At the Washington monument, leaders of the movement sprung into action to lead crowds through towards the Lincoln Memorial. Some marched down Independence Avenue as others took on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hurriedly my friends and I took up some pre-made signs and followed the masses of people. I looked up and my sign read “Civil rights plus full employment equals freedom.” Musicians sprung into action with songs of encouragement and vigour and could be heard from the glaring speakers of the event miles away from the Lincoln memorial. One particular song “A change is gonna come” was the anthem of the movement. It was hard to tell if the hundred of thousands of these participants fathomed their accomplishment at the time and whether they had any idea they were at a crossroads of which there was no turning back.
(Participants marching towards Lincoln Memorial together with their leaders, among them Dr. Martin Luther King. Source; Getty images)
Soon in the sweltering sun, people occupied the entire grass area from one end of the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument eagerly waiting for the representatives of the sponsoring organizations to deliver speeches. Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, announced the death of W.E.B Du Bois who died the previous night in Ghana. Despite not agreeing with some of his choices, he attributed today’s gathering to his voice and actions at the dawn of the twentieth century. The crowd observed a moment of silence in his honor. John Lewis, the National Chairman of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee criticized the administration over how little it done to protect southern blacks and civil rights workers who were under deep attacks in the south. He lobbied for activists to stay put in the streets of every city, village and hamlet of the country until true freedom was accomplished (Jones, William 41-78).
(John Lewis delivering his speech at the march for Jobs and Freedom. Source; Getty images)
Walter Reuther, who I overheard certain sections of the crowd label him as the white Martin Luther King, urged Americans to pressure their government to act on addressing racial injustices and reiterated that the country lacked moral authority in preaching democracy abroad while practising democracy at home was well below the standard. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gave an inspiring speech in what is known today as the ‘I have a dream’ speech. He called for an end to racism and invoked the Emancipation Proclamation signed by president Abraham Lincoln which ended slavery (Jones, William 41-78).
(Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King addressing participants at the march for Jobs and Freedom. Source; Getty images)
Black awareness and self-determination soared among the participants. I could not help but be swept up in the feeling of the march. It felt like being part of a glacier and one could feel the sense of collective will and effort in the air. Up to this point, it had been an incredible experience to be in one mind and spirit with this mass of humanity. Despite one’s origin, old and young, rich and poor, white and black, everyone stood very close to each other, listening to the speakers, jubilating and laughing, all in a good mood.
(Participants of the march on Jobs and Freedom by their thousands listening to the program speakers. Source; Getty images)
After all was said and done, Lloyd, Carlos and I embarked on getting back to the present. To experience the events of August 28th of 1963 that have completely shaped the history and face of the civil rights movement more than half a century first hand, galvanized our commitment to continue upholding the rights and freedoms that our previous generations rightfully fought for in our own small ways. Humanity should continue the process of integration in societies and communities and abhor racism and bigotry in its totality just as our Dr.Martin Luther King once dreamed.
Works cited.
Ezra, Michael. Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print. Pp xii.
Gott, J R. Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time. , 2002. Internet resource. Pp. 11-16
Howell, Elizabeth. Time Travel: Theories, Paradoxes & Possibilities. Space.com, 14 November, 2017. www.space.com/21675-time-travel.html
Hawking, Stephen. STEPHEN HAWKING: How to build a time machine. Daily Mail. 15 November, 2011. www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1269288/STEPHEN-HAWKING-How- build-time-machine.html
Jones, William P. The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights. , 2013. Print. Pp 41-78.
Kakutani, Michiko. The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech. The New York Times, 27 August. 2013. www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/us/the-lasting-power-of-dr-kings-dream-speech.ht ml?hpw&pagewanted=all
Weber, Peter. 4 Big Accomplishments of the 1963 March on Washington. The Week. 28 August, 2013. theweek.com/articles/460682/4-big-accomplishments-1963-march-washington